Thursday, April 23, 2015

Fitness Assessments with GT Employee Health Fair

The health fair included about a dozen vendors covering the wellness spectrum including nutrition, dental, mental, and physical health booths. The Campus Recreation Center was well represented with an info booth, fitness demos, and a health assessment booth. I had a nice corner booth with a giant privacy curtain to conduct assessments.

The fitness assessments included a weigh-in and a body composition assessment. There are a variety of ways to measure body fat, I usually use the skinfold method. Skinfold assessment measure the subcutaneous fat(fat just below the skin) and these measurements are directly proportionate to the total amount of body fat. The assessments can vary in number of sites and site location but all involve grasping folds of skin and using the calipers to measure the thickness of the fold. Skinfold assessments were my favorite part of our practical labs at GSU so I always sign up for opportunities to do assessments.

I used the Lange Caliper for today's assessments. The Lange manual recommended a 4 site skin fold assessment:

Biceps

Triceps

Subscapular

Suprailiac

2 other common assessment methods are the 3-site or 7-site method.

3 site skin folds
Male

Chest

Abdomen

Thigh

Female

Triceps

Suprailiac

Thigh

7 site skin folds

Triceps

Chest/Pectoral

Midaxillary

Subscapular

Suprailiac

Abdomen

Thigh

Choice of sites may vary based on the results chart you are using and your overall fitness goals and assessment needs. Just be sure to use the correct sites based on the chart or formula you choose. At the CRC you can sign up for a fitness assessment that includes body composition, resting heart rate, blood pressure, muscular strength and endurance, and flexibility. Or you can book an onsite assessment with me if you are not part of the Georgia Tech community.